1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communications, and in particular, to communication architectures.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) based fiber optical transmission presently exists as transport and for last mile access. Fiber MAN's can also use twisted pair access loops, fixed wireless point to point, point to multi point microwave and millimeter wave wireless links as last mile access but presently do not incorporate point to point wireless links using common carrier bands for last mile access. Patch antennas are common for many bands but not available or certified for common carrier bands such as 2, 4, and 6 GHz Common carrier point to point MW bands. Using point to multi point wireless links combined with MAN fiber optical transmission result in transmission delay in the order of 4 ms or more, end to end, per 125 miles. In addition, networks using point to multi point wireless or Ethernet over fiber transmission based on Ethernet switches or routers are examples of transmission network architectures where capacity is shared between sites, links, circuits and users, creating a less secure, more vulnerable network exposed to unauthorized intrusion.
Common carrier bands at 2, 4 and 6 GHz, especially the 4 GHz band, are under utilized today. The original and primary use of the bands was for long distance telecommunication across the US. The long distance links where typically operated by AT&T, MCI and other telephone companies. The long distance RF links had link distances of 30 miles or more. These long distance links require large antennas. These antennas had to be mounted individually on structures and cell towers. The leasing cost on cell towers is based, in part, on the number of mountings used. The large microwave antennas also created wind loading problems on cell towers. Today these companies and new operators typically utilize fiber optical transcontinental networks for Long Distance telecommunications. Deployment of fiber networks has rendered the 4 GHz band as highly under utilized and available for other uses.
Therefore there is a need for a system and method that utilizes these common carrier bands for last mile access on fiber MAN's.